Quote Originally Posted by crappiemax View Post
[B]"Those COE guys think it is ONLY a flood control reservoir"[/B]

It's all perspective...
You guys who fish CJ are lucky. If that were my home lake I would never complain. That is the most stable lake in the area that isn't controlled by a spillway and from the pics I've seen on here it doesn't mud up like the rest of these lakes. I don't study CJ water levels daily but I never see the levels vary more than a couple of feet one way or the other.

EF was up 34' earlier this year and hasn't had stable water for 2 months with levels often changing 2'-4' daily. Same thing, CC has been a yo-yo since all the rain and flooding earlier this year but to a lesser degree than EF. Paint creek is the area winner with rises over 40' and daily changes of +5' with a 7000cfs out flow, I bet they lost a few fish. Most of the other COE lakes have been a mess since late Feb or early March.

I don't complain how the COE manages their water levels, after all it is there lake and I'm not knowledgeable enough to second guess them. One thing that does irk me is we have a new COE guy down here at EF and he locks the gate to the ramp for even minor water level fluctuations.

I fish paint creek from November thru March every year for Crappie. I love it when they drop to winter pool and have lots of access from the bank. I have fished it when I would have to move every half hour while the water rose in the lake and have been there a few hours in a day and watched it come up several feet. Same when they pull the plug and it drops. I have very good luck on crappie there and the size of the fish also. Yes I would agree that the guys fishing CJ are very lucky. I dont take it to personal when Paint creek rises over 20' overnight even though I had the day off to fish. I know what the lake was designed for and it was not fishing. I used to think they could care less about the fisher man, and I think thats true, They really could care less and why would they to start with.